Page 118 - Understanding NCERT Histroy 09th

13. Where do the gaddi shepherds spend their summer season?
Ans. In Lahul and Spiti Valley.

Goyal Brothers Prakashan
14. What are customary rights?
Ans. Rights that people are used to by custom and tradition are called customary rights.

15. What where the professions of the dhangars?
Ans. Most of them were shepherds, some were blanket weavers and some others were buffalo
herders.

V. Short Answer Questions
1. Who are nomadic pastoralists?
Ans. l Nomads are people who do not live at one place but move from one area to another
to earn their living.
l In many parts of India, we can see nomadic pastoralists on the move with their herds
of goats and sheep, or camels and cattle.
l They move place to place in search of new pastures for their herds of goats and sheep.
2. What happened to the animal’s stock when pasture lands were turned into cultivable lands?
Ans. As pasturelands disappeared under the plough, the existing animal stock had to feed on
whatever grazing land remained. This led to continuous intensive grazing of these pastures.
Usually nomadic pastoralists grazed their animals in one area and moved to another area.
These pastoral movements allowed time for the natural restoration of the growth of the
vegetation. When restrictions were imposed on pastoral movements, grazing lands came
to be continuously used and the quality of pastures declined. This in turn created a further
shortage of fodder for animals and the deterioration of animal stock. Underfed cattle died
in large numbers during scarcities and famines.

3. What do you know about the lifestyle of Gujjars of Garhwal and Kumaun?
Ans. l In Garhwal and Kumaun, the Gujjar cattle herders came to the dry forests of the bhabar
in the winter, and went to the high meadows, the Bugyals, in summer.
l Many of them were originally from Jammu and came to the up hills in the 19th century’
in search of good pastures.
l This pattern of cyclical movement between summer and winter pastures was typical of
many pastoral communities of the Himalayas.

4. Describe the life of pastoralists inhabiting the mountains of India.
Ans. The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir, the Gaddi shepherds of Himachal Pradesh,
the Gujjar cattle herders of Garhwal and Kumaun, the Bhotiyas, the Sherpas and Kinnauris
move annually between their summer and winter grazing grounds governed by the cycle
of seasonal movements.
They adjust their movements to seasonal changes and make effective use of available
pastures in different places. When pastures are exhausted or unstable in one place they
move their herds to the new areas.
5. Discuss the main features of the pastoral nomads of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Ans. l In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, we found the dry central plateau covered with stone
and grass inhabited by cattle, goat and sheep herders.
l The Gollas herded cattle and the Kurumas and Kurubas reared sheep and goats and sold

History Class IX H-109